OZ LIT REVIEW #5 - Roland Wright At the Joust

Roland Wright: At the Joust by Tony Davis Random House rrp $12.95 Paperback Junior fiction

At the Joust is the third book in the Roland Wright series. I’ll admit my bias up front. I live with a young Roland Wright fan – and we love his books.

Roland Wright is a well crafted series with heroes, villains, Nudge the mouse, a lot of humour and the best sort of history of all – battles, swords, armour and castles. At the Joust is no exception. Three chapters in and my son and I were ready to try a few longsword moves. It’s great fun acting out a scene from Roland Wright.

The exploration of friendship and rivalry provides positive values and role models. The castle is not so different to the playground. With the help of his friends and his own self-belief, Roland triumphs over the bully, and senior page, Hector. Roland also learns that jousting is not all heroism and fun when his friend, the brave Sir Lucas, is seriously injured.

While this book is a complete read in itself, to start with the third book would deprive a younger reader of the full enjoyment of Roland’s adventures. And as a parent, I am always conscious of the role a good series can play in keeping an emerging reading interest alive.

Gregory Roger’s black and white cartoon style drawings add to the humour and are great visuals (especially when doing an after reading re-enactment!). The pictures of Nudge are favourites in my house.

Girls will enjoy this book but boys will love it. Parents who read it aloud to their kids will have heaps of fun. I know!

OZ LIT PROFILE #5 - Tony Davis

Today's OZ Lit profile is Tony Davis, author of a number of fiction and non-fiction works for children, including the best-selling Lemon! 60 Heroic Failures in Motoring!

But in our house he is mega-famous as the author of the much requested bedtime reading- the Roland Wright series. We love Roland and we love swordplay of any kind!

1 The last children's/YA book you read (fiction or non-fiction) Simon French's Where in the World, mainly because my eleven-year-old son was given it for his birthday, and partly because i thought anything with that many award stickers on it must be at the very least interesting.

2 If it wasn't an Oz title, then the last Oz title

3 Name one favourite book from your childhood Alice in Wonderland ... can i mention two? Animal Farm. Or three? The Phantom Tollbooth. And then there was... I better stop.

4 Name one picture book that you love for the illustrations The Boy, The Bear, The Baron, The Bard ... though I have some bias there as it's the work of Greg Rogers, who illustrates the Roland Wright books. You have to like it for the illustrations too, as there isn't a single word to be found. By the way, for the US Roland series (the first two are launched in September) the publishers have redrawn the covers using a different artist, though Greg's pictures are inside. I'm told they know their market best. I hope so.

5 What is your personal favourite among the books you have authored/illustrated Hard to say, but i think The Mad, Mad World of Sports, a non-fiction title from last year that was a little overlooked, perhaps shouldn't have been 'a little overlooked'. Nice Leigh Hobbs illustrations too.

6 What book do you wish you had written - for love or money There's two questions there. I wish i'd written The Great Gatsby for its warmth, elegance and sheer class. And the Harry Potter series for its renumeration.

7 If you could be a character in a book, who (or what) would you be? You've stumped me there. I think i'd rather be the person inventing the characters.

8 Do you have a favourite quote - from a book or life in general! Anything. I have far too many quotes clogging up my brain from songs, poems, plays, books and films. Today's favourite: Noel Coward supposedly telling a method actor 'don't just do something, stand there.'